"Where are you going?" Kade calls out to me over the crowd of people filing onto the tour buses.

I look over my shoulder at him. He just finished a show and his hair is wet from a quick shower. A t-shirt hugs his torso and sweatpants sit low on his hips—his customary traveling attire.

I point to my ride and say, "I'm getting on the crew bus."

He runs across the parking lot and takes my hand, pulling me in the opposite direction. "No, you're coming with us."

"But all of my stuff..."

"Kade, let's get going," Mike says, standing in the doorway of the bus Kade should be on.

Kade throws me over his shoulder, jogs to the bus, and sets me down once inside. "You'll be fine for eight hours without your things. Just have some fun for a little while, all right?"

I glance around; everyone in the band is wired from the show. Eagin leans over a video game console, starting it up while Ridley jumps up and down, explaining to Seb and Oscar a sexually charged sign a fan was holding. I'm invading their personal time together as they come down from the high of the concert, and I feel a little uncomfortable.

"We know you can race a golf cart, but how are you at video games?" Eagin tosses me a controller to the Xbox.

I cast aside my trepidation and give in to the moment. I sit next to Eagin on a long couch and hit play. Everyone joins in, and we challenge each other tournament style with the loser handing their remote to the next person. It's fun and reminds me of evenings spent with Nicky when I was younger. They are rambunctious, and their playful banter contains a slew of vulgar words. My occasional "ballsack" or "twat hair" is much appreciated.

The rush of adrenaline from the concert must be like a drop of speed because they are still rearing to go another round as I'm fighting to stay awake. It becomes a new game for them, nudging or scaring me awake again. I even get a lap dance from Seb, waking up to his gyrating pelvis inches from my face. I laugh and keep in good spirit about it, but I'm drained and wish I was on my bus. The almost claustrophobic bunk sounds like heaven right now.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Kade says, shaking me awake.

He takes my hand, pulls me up to my feet, and leads me through the sliding door to the bunks. Double-stacked beds line each side and privacy comes in the form of a curtain. Kade pulls the fabric aside and shows me my bed for the night.

I remove my shoes, crawling onto the mattress, and ask, "Is this an extra bunk?"

"No, it's mine."

"Where are you going to sleep?"

He shrugs. "I'll sleep out on the couch."

I move to get out of the bed, but Kade pushes me over. "Go to sleep, Ari. I'll be fine."

Rolling my eyes, I lie on my back. "Hey, Kade."

"Yeah," he says, tucking the blankets around me.

"Why did you have me come with you guys tonight?"

He steps back, leans against the bunks opposite of me, and crosses his arms over his chest. "I didn't want you to feel alone. I know for me being on the bus gives me a lot of time to think, and I wanted you to be distracted by good people."

Now that he says it, I appreciate what he did. I've wasted too much time contemplating my relationship with Asher and mourning the loss of what I thought we had. Tonight has the possibility of being the first night I fall asleep without Asher Prescott completely invading my thoughts.

I scoot over in the small bed. "Will you just hang out with me until I fall asleep?"

"Yes." Kade eases into the bed and lays his tall frame next to me.

We both fold our hands over our stomachs and look up at the bottom of the bunk above us.

"Have you ever been in love, Kade?"

"I don't know. I've felt like I was in love a couple of times, but if it was real, I don't know."

I long to hear that I'm not the only person who's felt excruciating pain at the hand of someone else. "Did you regret it?"

He shakes his head. "It made me who I am. Just like I don't regret you being with Asher, it made you who you are."

I turn to my side and lay my head on my folded arms. "You hated me. You thought I was a slut." Joking and smiling at the distasteful subject is comfortable now that he's apologized and explained his reason for thinking poorly of me.

"I was going with more like a gold digger," he says, smiling at the ceiling.

"The night you met me, I was wearing a dress off the sales rack from Macy's. I think the catering crew had more expensive clothes on."

"You still looked beautiful." He glances at me and smiles.

My cheeks burn red hot and I push through saying, "You had to be the most underdressed person there."

"What was I wearing?"

"A t-shirt and jeans. It's not like you're running around with an extensive wardrobe. You should have remembered," I tease.

Kade's eyes flutter closed. "I'm sure that was my good t-shirt."

"I'm sure it was. By the way, thank you."

He cracks his eyes open and slides his arm under my head, pulling me close. I reach over him and close the curtain to the bunk and rest my head on his chest. The rhythm of his heart under my ear is a peaceful sound like rain on a summer night, a constant thump lulling me to sleep. His arms are warm, and his hand on my back is gentle.

I can't remember the last time I felt this content, and it's because Kade's friendship is part of my reality.

For the first time in weeks, my thoughts are not on my relationship with Asher. Instead, I replay the time I spent on the bus tonight. All the funny comments and the way they went back and forth with one another, as siblings do. Thanks to Kade, I focus on something other than my regrets and heartache.